Primers

Although sensory systems share basic features of organization, each is uniquely designed to respond to a particular aspect of the world. Here are some specifics on vision, hearing, taste and smell, and somatosensory systems.

Although sensory systems share basic features of organization, each is uniquely designed to respond to a particular aspect of the world. We might think of the principal senses as variations on a common theme.

There are many types of neurotransmitters in the brain—what they have in common is that they are produced inside a neuron, released into the synapse, and then cause an excitatory or inhibitory effect on receptor cells, helping to propagate or downgrade action potentials.

In recent decades, genetic research has become a mainstay of neuroscience, illuminating how the brain is put together, the molecular pathways of its operations, and the myriad things that can go wrong.

Hormones affect the entire brain both during development and throughout adult life: shaping, activating, and fueling sexually dimorphic brain circuits involved in stress and memory as well as several psychiatric disorders.

Imaging is becoming an increasingly important tool in both research and clinical care. This paper explains in-depth a range of imaging technologies that provide unprecedented sensitivity to visualization of brain structure and function from the level of individual molecules to the whole brain. Written in 2011, we are planning a revised version for spring of 2018.